A Mother's Mistake
by eskalations
Summary: "He was happy, and that was all that mattered." Reality crashes down on Lucy and she's forced to give up her child, many mistakes later she realizes her greatest one led him to a happily ever after.  Edited/Extended Version now up!
1. Chapter 1

Ok so this idea just randomly came to me, honestly. I wasn t even thinking about something to write about and this just came up.

Eugene s mother s name was Lucy. I don t know why I picked that name I just did, honestly Eugene s past facinates me and I have tried to write about it multiple times, but I always wondered what happened to his parents.

Disclaimer: I don t own Tangled or it s characters, Disney does.

Lucy had made many mistakes in her life, so many that she didn t even bother trying to count them. Today, for example, was a complete mistake. She should have never offered to run an errand for the head chef of the castle in the afternoon, when every street and store was crowded with a variety of people.

Clutching the basket tightly in her fist, she winded her way through small groups of people just standing in the middle of the street. The sun was hot and to be honest Lucy just wanted to sit down a minute, but the building looming to the left of the square kept her walking steadily away from her current position.

Miss Emily s Orphanage was completely ran down, and treated like the plague by most people who rushed past it so they wouldn t have to face reality. All those children, with no parents.

Lucy though had a reason to keep her head down as she passed the place, trying to hold back the tears that fought to force themselves out of her hazel eyes.

No Lucy, not today, it s been 26 years, This was the same chant she whispered to herself everday in passing, except the number of years kept on getting bigger and bigger, time taking over.

For twenty five years she had worked for the king and queen as a maid, but it wasn t because she was loyal to Corona, it was because of the benefits she received with the job.

Free lodging in the servant s quarters meant she always had a roof over her head, and the three meals a day guaranteed she would never go hungry. But even though she had all that, one thing was missing from her life.

Pushing back the dark brown hair away from her face and breathing out a sigh of relief, the women kept on moving across the square until she took in her surroundings.

So absorbed in thought, Lucy hadn t realized that a young, petite girl was currently dancing around the square grabbing people from the sides just curiously watching her and welcoming them into the dance laughingly.

This girl was strange, just by the looks of her. The happiness that radiated from her was as bright as the sun, oh and she happened to have a huge blonde braid flailing around behind her as she moved to the musis the fiddlist played.

She had a companion, that watched with a goofy grin from the sidelines.  
>He was extremely handsome, with dark brown hair and light hazel colored eyes, their was something hauntingly familiar about him though.<p>

Suddenly the young man was knocked from behind by a horse who Lucy had seen at the palace from time to time and was then thrown into the dance taking place in the bustling town square.

At the end of the song the two people ended up in eachothers arms,  
>grinning at the other. That s when it hit her.<p>

Flynn Rider. It was Flynn Rider dancing in the square with apparently the very unobservant people of Corona. His face was plastered everywhere around here, wasn t he worried about getting arrested? Ofcourse not.

But it wasn t the face that had been haunting Lucy it had been the eyes,  
>the same unforgiving ones she had looked into 25 years ago when she dropped him off on the doorstep of an orphanage, except then, he had been Eugene Fitzherbert.<p>

Her precious baby boy.

She didn t want to give him up, oh she couldn t imagine a mother wanting her child to be put through what her son had been through. Look at what he ended up turning to, thieving.

But looking at the grin on his face, Lucy couldn t ruin the moment.  
>He was happy and that was enough.<p>

Quickly she entered the bakery and composed herself, his happiness was all that mattered.

Merely two days later, news spread throughout the kingdom that the lost princess had returned, and was brought home by none other then the dashing bandit himself, Flynn Rider.

But now he preferred Eugene Fitzherbert.

Working in the castle, Lucy had been one of the first told of the news,  
>in fact she escorted the new resident s to their rooms. She smiled as the newly found princess and her son playfully joked around with the other and smiled at their surroundings.<p>

Months passed, and still she said nothing to the man that was her son. How could she? Lucy would not shatter his happiness by showing him that his mother had been alive this whole time, she just couldn t take care of him.

The Orphanage had been given a note that stated that her and Eugene s father had died, even though his father had actually ran off before his child was even born.

Lucy tried her best to take care of her baby, but she was only 16 and still practically a child herself. Night after night she would have to wake up and tend to Eugene and then the next morning trudge to her place of employment.  
>After being fired from countless jobs, and getting kicked out of the small inn room she occupied, the young girl couldn t take it and decided her son deserved better. It wasn t until a year later after that night out in the cold when she had abandoned her son, that she actually had a stable job.<p>

Years passed and she wanted to go find her son, to hold him and never let him go, but she was scared. What if he hated her now? What if he wouldn t except her as his mother?

Sixteen years had come and gone when she spotted the first wanted poster, then she knew that she had made another mistake. Oh what had she done?

Now, twenty six years since the night of the orphanage she sat and watched the new princess and her beau try to dance like their tutors to a waltz, both messing up the steps but laughing everytime one tripped or fell. Their relationship was utterly adorable.

Lucy was a trusted maid, and was in fact the personal one to the princess.  
>Most things she did now were for the princess, getting her to her lessons,<br>making sure she was on time for things, the usual princess stuff.

She loved her job, because even though it wasn t like raising him,  
>Lucy did get to see her son grow into the person she always hoped he would be.<p>

Lucy got to see her son nervously walk down the hall, his usual confident stride comparable to that of a young school boy who just got sent to the headmaster s office.

Eugene is everything alright? The woman asked her son timidly trying not to sound too concerned even though she was curious as to what seemed to be troubling the young man.

Everythings fine Lucy, um just jumpy I guess! Eugene said this all too quickly for him to be telling the truth, something was making him nervous. Down the hall she saw him enter the King s study only to come out about an hour later, an earsplitting grin replacing the nervous look he held on his face earlier.

Hours later, Lucy realized just why the man had been so nervous. Princess Rapunzel and him had went on a boat ride, and when they returned both were practically radiating love and happiness. After three years of being back in the castle, Eugene had secured the girl s hand. Lucy had never felt more proud.

Though she thought nothing could beat the look of joy on his face when he came back to the castle that night, Lucy was proven wrong. On his wedding day she had been sent to help him get ready, and when she entered the room nothing good wipe the smile off his face.

Even though Eugene was nervous, he couldn t help the excited mumbling that came through.

I can t believe it The young man kept on murmuring as Lucy smoothed out the wrinkles of his uniform and placed the sash around his chest fixing the Cornonian symbol of the sun attached to it.

She smiled up at him and patted his cheek hoping the pride didn t show too much, Lucy still didn t have the confidence to tell him the truth,  
>and as he watched his soon to be wife walk down the aisle, Lucy almost cried at the look of love on his face.<p>

Even though she didn t get to watch her baby grow up, it made it that much more magical when talks about grandchildren for the king and queen came into the picture.

She was there when Eugene was rambling in the middle of the night,  
>saying over and over what a terrible father he would be, and how he couldn t believe this kind of responsiblility was being presented to him.<p>

Lucy delicately placed her hand on his cheek, making those hazel orbs focus on hers.

Everything s going to be fine Eugene, everything, He just nodded but she detected the doubt still swimming in his eyes, he had no father so how would he know how to raise a child.

Somehow Eugene managed and she got to see her grandchild be born, in fact she was one of the maids helping with the birth, and got to be the one to present the child to two very proud parents.

Say hi to mommy and daddy, Lucy whispered as she handed the squirming newborn to the couple, her big green eyes looked curiously at them.  
>She got to see her son hold his child.<p>

Lucy also got to see that child grow up, beautiful little Rose, with flowing brown hair the color of chestnut and wide emerald colored eyes.

A few years later, four to be exact they had a son, and he looked just like his father.

All these happy things that Lucy got to see made her realize that even if she had to give up her happily ever after with her son, atleast he got his.

And as she lay on her deathbed, with the royal family in tears as she breathes out shaky breaths, a memory comes to her from long ago,  
>a sentence she told the orphanage to tell her baby boy.<p>

No matter what happens, know that as long as the sun rises, I will be with you.

Hand shaking she grabs for the pen and paper laying on the side of her bed, Lucy quickly scribbles on it the same phrase she wrote years ago.

As she closes her eyes for the last time, Eugene reads the note she had left and the realization dawns on his face, but before anything is said Lucy s heart stops beating.

Lucy had made many mistakes in her life, and the biggest one out of them, wasn t a mistake after all.

He was happy, and that was all that mattered.  
> <p>


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I read back over this story today and realized just how proud I was of it, but I wanted to fix the mistakes that I had neglected in the original, so I hope you will read this newer version that is an extended version of the original.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled or it's characters, Disney does.<p>

Lucy had made many mistakes in her life, so many that she didn t even bother trying to count them. Today, for example, was a complete mistake. She should have never offered to run an errand for the head chef of the castle in the afternoon, when every street and store was crowded with a variety of people.

Clutching the basket tightly in her fist, she winded her way through small groups of people just standing in the middle of the street. The sun was hot and to be honest Lucy just wanted to sit down a minute, but the building looming to the left of the square kept her walking steadily away from her current position.

Miss Emily's Orphanage was completely ran down, and treated like the plague by most people who rushed past it so they wouldn t have to face reality. All those children, with no parents.

Lucy though had a reason to keep her head down as she passed the place, trying to hold back the tears that fought to force themselves out of her hazel eyes and the bitter thoughts that were raised at the people who hid from the cold reality.

"No Lucy, not today, it s been 26 years," This was the same chant she whispered to herself everday in passing, except the number of years kept on getting bigger and bigger, time taking over. Another person bumped into her but she mustered up enough strength in her emotional state to shove them back, she didn't care if it was childish.

For twenty five years she had worked for the king and queen as a maid, but it wasn't because she was loyal to Corona, it was because of the benefits she received with the job. Free lodging in the servant's quarters meant she always had a roof over her head, and the three meals a day guaranteed she would never go hungry. But even though she had all that, one thing was missing from her life.

Pushing back the dark brown hair away from her face and breathing out a sigh of relief, the women kept on moving across the square until she took in her surroundings.

So absorbed in thought, Lucy hadn't realized that a young, petite girl was currently dancing around the square grabbing people from the sides just curiously watching her and welcoming them into the dance laughingly.

This girl was strange, just by the looks of her. The happiness that radiated from her was as bright as the sun, oh and she happened to have a huge blonde braid flailing around behind her as she moved to the music the fiddlist played. 70 feet of hair seemed to be tucked away with flowers in that intricate braid.

She had a companion, that watched with a goofy grin from the sidelines. He was extremely handsome, with dark brown hair and light hazel colored eyes, their was something hauntingly familiar about him though. The way he held himself with such confidence radiated a bit of vanity yet underneath it all he seemed to carry a burden, she could see it in the way his eyes looked at the grinning girl that he wanted that happiness that radiated from her, warm as the sun.

Suddenly the young man was knocked from behind by a horse who Lucy had seen at the palace from time to time and was then thrown into the dance taking place in the bustling town square, all the while a frown on his unusually handsome face.

At the end of the song the two people ended up in eachother's arms, grinning at the other and seperating rather shyly. The brunette boy's hair was messier then it had been before he was twirled around the town square but those warm honey eyes held an innocent excitement that hadn't been there before. That's when it hit her.

Flynn Rider. It was Flynn Rider dancing in the square with apparently the very unobservant people of Corona. His face was plastered everywhere around here, wasn't he worried about getting arrested? Ofcourse not, the man had not been known to fear.

But it wasn t the face that had been haunting Lucy it had been the eyes, the same unforgiving ones she had looked into 25 years ago when she dropped him off on the doorstep of an orphanage, except then he had been Eugene Fitzherbert.

Her precious baby boy.

She didn t want to give him up, oh she couldn't imagine a mother wanting her child to be put through what her son had been through. Look at what he ended up turning to, thieving. She knew what it felt like to be thrown on the streets and forced to take up illegal acts of crime to survive, and look at what she had ended up doing. Putting her son through the same thing.

Lucy wanted to say something to him but for once in her life she couldn't find the right words. But looking at the grin on his face, Lucy couldn't ruin the moment. And even though her boy was a thief, he was happy and that was enough.

Quickly she entered the bakery and composed herself, sweeping the dark brunette hair over her shoulders and blinking back the horrid tears threatening to fall from her eyes. His happiness was all that mattered.

Merely two days later, news spread throughout the kingdom that the lost princess had returned, and was brought home by none other then the dashing bandit himself, Flynn Rider.

But now he preferred Eugene Fitzherbert.

Working in the castle Lucy had been one of the first told of the news, in fact she escorted the new resident's to their rooms. She smiled as the newly found princess and her son playfully joked around with the other and smiled at their surroundings.

"Eugene please whatever happens just don't get arrested!" The petite brunette joked with the man who though he earlier had been pardoned from his crimes, still looked nervously at the guards who gave him glares as they passed.

Laughing nervously the ex-thief replied wittingly, "Will do Blondie."

Months passed, and still she said nothing to the man that was her son. How could she? Lucy would not shatter his happiness by showing him that his mother had been alive this whole time, she just couldn't take care of him. Eugene had grown to be quite the young man and the women couldn't be more proud of him then she was now, this kept her from saying a word.

The Orphanage had been given a note that stated that her and Eugene's father had died, even though his father had actually ran off before his child was even born. The man was vain and only cared for himself, Lucy never saw him again and to be honest she didn't want to.

Lucy tried her best to take care of her baby, but she was only 16 and still practically a child herself. Night after night she would have to wake up and tend to Eugene and then the next morning trudge to her place of employment. After being fired from countless jobs, and getting kicked out of the small inn room she occupied due to the child's constant screaming, the young girl couldn't take it and decided Eugene deserved better and her still teenage mind made the decision of the orphanage not truly thinking of the reality of it. It wasn't until a year later after that night out in the cold when she had abandoned her son, that she actually had a stable job.

Years passed and she wanted to go find her son, to hold him and never let him go, but she was scared. What if he hated her now? What if he wouldn t except her as his mother?

Sixteen years had come and gone when she spotted the first wanted poster, then she knew that she had made another mistake. It wasn't just one wanted poster either, no it was about one on every corner of Corona. Oh what had she done?

Now, twenty six years since the night of the orphanage she sat and watched the new princess and her beau try to dance like their tutors to a waltz, both messing up the steps but laughing everytime one tripped or fell. Their relationship was utterly adorable.

"Eugene could you please, I don't know, dance a little better!" The princess giggled as the man yet again stepped on her tiny toes making the tutors cringe at the clumsy mistakes.

"Blondie if you have not noticed I actually am trying!" He replied gripping her small hands tighter in his large ones and starting over from the beginning, the next one to mess up happened to be the princess and when she did Eugene's face held a smirk that made the girl blush and then start all over again.

Lucy was a trusted maid, and was in fact the personal one to the princess. Most things she did now were for the princess, getting her to her lessons,  
>making sure she was on time for things, the usual princess stuff.<p>

She loved her job, the princess was exactly what her son needed and she didn't mind one bit serving her. Even though Eugene was grown now he still had a lot of growing up to do, to which she got to witness.

Lucy got to see her son nervously walk down the hall, his usual confident stride comparable to that of a young school boy who just got sent to the headmaster s office. Hazel eyes scanned the bare hallway as the man's footfalls seemed to get more and more timid as he got closer and closer to the Queen's office.

"Eugene is everything alright?" The woman asked her son timidly trying not to sound too concerned even though she was curious as to what seemed to be troubling the young man. She had her suspisions though.

"Everything's fine Lucy, um just jumpy I guess!" Eugene said this all too quickly for him to be telling the truth, something was making him nervous. Down the hall she saw him enter the King's study only to come out about an hour later, an earsplitting grin replacing the nervous look he held on his face earlier. Those hazel eyes never losing the joy that radiated within, now he was shining like the sun.

Hours later, Lucy realized just why the man had been so nervous. Princess Rapunzel and him had went on a boat ride, and when they returned both were about to burst with glee. After three years of being back in the castle, Eugene had secured the girl's hand. Lucy had never felt more proud.

Though she thought nothing could beat the look of joy on his face when he came back to the castle that night, Lucy was proven wrong. On his wedding day she had been sent to help him get ready, and when she entered the room nothing good wipe the smile off his face. His hands shook a bit as he tried to button the uniform but Lucy soon came over and pushed his tanned hands out of the way and did the buttons herself, feeling as if she were dressing him for his first day of school when really he was marrying a princess.

Even though Eugene was nervous, he couldn't help the excited mumbling that came through.

"I can't believe it." The young man kept on murmuring as Lucy smoothed out the wrinkles of his uniform and placed the sash around his chest fixing the Cornonian symbol of the sun attached to it.

She smiled up at him and patted his cheek hoping the pride didn't show too much, Lucy still didn't have the confidence to tell him the truth,  
>and as he watched his soon to be wife walk down the aisle, Lucy almost cried at the look of love on his face. Her son had found the happiness she had never recieved yet Lucy wasn't bitter, in fact she prefered it this way.<p>

Even though she didn't get to watch her baby grow up, it made it that much more magical when talks about grandchildren for the king and queen came into the picture.

She was there when Eugene was rambling in the middle of the night, saying over and over what a terrible father he would be, and how he couldn t believe this kind of responsiblility was being presented to him. The poor boy was slumped on the floor a look of disbelief reflecting in those warm honey golden eyes.

Lucy delicately placed her hand on his cheek, making those hazel orbs focus on hers.

"Everything s going to be fine Eugene, everything," He just nodded but she detected the doubt still swimming in his eyes, he had no father so how would he know how to raise a child. Something that again she could be blamed for, but she didn't doubt the man, he would make a wonderful father.

Somehow Eugene managed and she got to see her grandchild be born, in fact she was one of the maids helping with the birth, and got to be the one to present the child to two very proud parents. Both looked tired but were eager to meet their baby.

"Say hi to mommy and daddy," Lucy whispered as she handed the squirming newborn to the couple, her big green eyes looked curiously at them.  
>She got to see her son hold his child. Lucy left the room after that, the tears already streaming down her face.<p>

Lucy also got to see that child grow up, beautiful little Rose, with flowing brown hair the color of chestnut and wide emerald colored eyes. She looked a lot like her Father and her personality certainly came from him, at times that was a bit concerning but the humor and light the small child radiated were never overlooked. She was a complete Daddy's girl, and just as Lucy had predicted Eugene was an excellent father.

A few years later, four to be exact they had a son, and he looked like a mini Eugene. The hazel eyes that he had inherited from his father blinked wildly at this new world he was being exposed to, Lucy didn't get to see her son hold that child because she had to leave the room scared that she would start sobbing if she saw those tiny toddlers honey eyes lock with hers, all three of them had an identical set.

All these happy things that Lucy got to see made her realize that even if she had to give up her happily ever after with her son, atleast he got his.

And as she lay on her deathbed, with the royal family in tears as she breathes out shaky breaths, a memory comes to her from long ago,  
>a sentence she told the orphanage to tell her baby boy.<p>

"No matter what happens, know that as long as the sun rises, I will be with you."

Hand shaking she grabs for the pen and paper laying on the side of her bed, Lucy quickly scribbles on it the same phrase she wrote years ago. She can feel the darkness creeping over her but she has to see his reaction, see the familiarity in those warm hazel eyes.

As she closes her eyes for the last time, Eugene reads the note she had left and the realization dawns on his face, but before anything is said Lucy's heart stops beating. She lay there with a small grin on her face, the woman was at peace.

Lucy had made many mistakes in her life, and the biggest one out of them, wasn't a mistake after all.

He was happy, and that was all that mattered.

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><p>AN#2: Review?


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